Over 500 Nigerian students who fled to Egypt from Sudan have been ordered back to the crisis-ridden country.
This is as a result of the misconduct of two students who reportedly tried to beat security checks at the Egyptian airport.
Due to the closure of Sudanese airspace, the Federal Government made provision for Nigerians in Sudan to travel to Egypt by road from where they are to be flown back to the country.
But the Egyptian authorities denied them access into their country for over a week, leaving the Nigerian citizens stranded.
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However, Egypt eventually agreed but under stringent conditions.
A batch of stranded Nigerians have since been evacuated back home, with efforts ongoing to rescue more.
In a recording obtained by Daily Trust, on Friday, a government official was heard saying two students who failed to provide passport or Emergency Travel Certificate were instructed to stay back, but they sneaked in to join their colleagues who had been cleared.
“Our children have spoiled the efforts that the Federal Government is putting in place to airlift them. All the students that have passports were allowed to move to the Egypt airport and those that do not have were asked to wait behind and an ETC will be issued to them as a formal document for them to travel. Out of impatience, two students without passports or ETC sneaked in.
“Now, the two students were discovered at the Aswan airport and the Egyptian authorities are angry. Now, all the stranded Nigerians have to go back to Sudan. They conveyed over 500 Nigerians and everyone will go back to Sudan. They will have to get an exit permit and then get another permit back to Egypt. This will cause a delay of almost 10 hours.”
The official also said that the issue was on the whereabouts of a little child could not be ascertained.
“Also, in the midst of the confusion, a child sneaked into Egypt. We cannot find him. Legal actions would be taken against the two students.”
Meanwhile, evacuation process is ongoing smoothly at Port Sudan and some other places.
Sources told Daily Trust that boarding was ongoing at Tacko Airport in Port Sudan. MaXAir and Azman flights are on ground to evacuate 800 Nigerian citizens.
